URSU board appoints current president as interim GM
Past execs voice concerns
After a roughly 90-minute in camera session during their Tuesday, March 23 board meeting, the URSU board confirmed that they would go ahead with the firing of General Manager Carl Flis, with outgoing President Gurjinder Singh Lehal stepping in as interim GM. Although the move seems to be a violation of Section V of the URSU constitution, board chair Tim Otitoju, said that the board has consulted with their lawyer, who did not specifically say that appointing the current president to the GM role would be a violation of the section, which states that “no Director may hold more than one office or paid position of the student union at a time.” Otitoju noted that Lehal will not be getting paid for his GM role. “It depends on your interpretation of ‘two roles,’” as to whether the boards’ decision to appoint Lehal is unconstitutional, he added.
Fifth URSU board member resigns
And another one gone
Another URSU board member has resigned, bringing the total number of resignations in 2021 to five (six, if you count Operations Manager Neil Middlemiss who gave notice earlier this month). The representative for students with disabilities, Katlyn Richardson, tendered her resignation on February 18. In a public Facebook post Richardson wrote “Since 2019, I have represented the side of Student’s [sic] with Disabilities in everything I have done at the university from representing students in disciplinary hearings to trying [to] make our voices heard in board meetings. I cannot say this was a decision I wanted to make but will say it was one I had no choice but to make. I do hold hope in a better year of fighting for students in the 2021/2022 school year. I may not be a director anymore but I will continue fighting for you no matter what obstacles are faced in the future.”